Homelite, 5-20, NOW RUNNING!!!

[Lewis Brander]

Hello to all. Well the Homelite, 5-20, I've been working on is now running. With the new diaphragm kit from bantasaw.com and a new NOS coil from Hawkins Brothers, she started on the 4th pull this morning. It quit, because I didn't get to the choke fast enoug, but started right up and after a few carb adjustments seems to run fine. The instructions on the tank say to adjust the needle valves to between 1/2 and 3/4 turn open. I set them at 3/4 turn and went from there. The saw idles just fine, in all positions, even upside down set just over 1/2 turn. The High side I left at 3/4 to 1 turn open. The saw has a vane goveror and not quite sure how to set the high side. I can almost close the needle valve before she does anything, mainly starve for fuel and starts to die and quit. Any one have any suggestions? The saw starts, idles, accelerates and seems to run fine just where the adjustment are. I'm thinking I'm going to have to put her into a cut, under load, to do any final adjustments. Otherwise, I'm leaving her as is. Any thought or suggestion on the high side adjustments? I just want to thank everyone for there time, consideration and patience. Everyone take care. Lewis.

 

[cbfarmall]

Like the 090, which has a vane governor that closes the choke, you have to defeat the governor by manually holding the choke open. Then you can adjust the hi side just like you would any other saw.

Many people unhook the governor linkage. I chose to leave it intact.

Take care, Chris B.

 

[Lewis Brander]

To cbfarmall:

HI cbfamall. Thanks for the reply. The vane governor on this saw operates the throttle shaft, not the choke shaft. I thought about disconnecting it and adjusting the high side, but thought that I'd ask first. I was worried about over reving the saw and possibly causing some damage, the old saw hasn't been ran in a while. I did reach in and give the throttle a quick flip working against the governor. I have the tank drained and the saw ran dry for now, but will give it a try the next time I have her out. Thanks. Lewis.

 

[Lawn Masters]

Lewis, I'm glad to hear you've got your 5-20 going again.

As with most things in life, trial and error is probably the way to get it set right.

 

[Mange]

Lewis!!!
You got it to sing, did you like it?
It is a special sound.

Mange

 

[Lewis Brander]

To OSA and Mange:

Hi Old saw: I've been down the road of trial and error several times. Sometimes it works out and other times it doesn't. When I'm in doupt I'll ask a question and try to get information from some reliable soruce, before I go too far and ruin a perfectly good piece of equipment. This site if full of knowledgeable people who have years of experience on saws, working on them in the shop or working with them in the field. I don't pretend to know everything about these 2 stroke saws, so what I don't understand or comprehend I'll ask about, if I can't find it on line or in a service manuel. I don't want to ruin this saw, it's looks to be in great mechanical shape. Other than the paint looking a little rough, she is now running great. Just wanted to know if there was a proper way to adjust the high end form someone who has had experiance with these saws. Take care. Lewis.

Hi Mange: Yes, I finally got the old saw to sing and she sounds pretty good. She has a bark all her own. A bit like the 600 D. The best sounding saw I have is the old Disston. That saw has a sound all its own. A bit like listening to an outboard motor run. Not loud, but a good mellow sound to it. The C-5 has a good sharp crack to the exhaust sound. I usually wear ear protection if I run her for very long, along with the Bolens and PM Rocket. They all have a sound of there own and they all sound good when they're running. Take care to all. Lewis.

 

[Al Smith]

Gov.

In my modest collection,I have one saw,that originaly had a gov.Mac super 44a.The air vain,had been partly cut off ,for some reason. rather than fabricate a new one,I just bypassed it.The saw is just as happy running at 8 to 9 thousand,as it was at 6500.

 

[Lewis Brander]

To Al Smith:

Hi Al. This is the first saw I've seen with a governor, so don't know that much about them. I plan to keep the saw in fully original shape. I've got to take the 5-20 and a couple other saws to my borthers and cut up some wood to see how they'll handle. The old direct drive Disston and this goverened 5-20 should be different saws to run and handle. The 5-20 has 1/2" pitch chain on it, so don't know how aggresive it is. I'm thinking that if I were to elminate the governor I could get into some problems. Time will tell. Take care. Lewis.

 

[Al Smith]

5-20

Well Lewis,that old gear drive has enough low end guts,to pull you right over a log .Use the bucking spike.

 

[Lewis Brander]

To Al Smith:

Bucking spikes. She has a good set of them on her. I figured she'd have lots of torque, but just not sure how the saw or I will react to it. Scott (MaC) told me to watch out for the old Disston, for she has the tendency to pull down ( engine side of the log) on you, so you had better have your legs braced and be ready for it. Both should be interesting to run and play with. Thanks for the warning. Lewis.

 

[McC]

That's funny you mention the Disston pulling you down. The first time I made a cut with mine, I nearly dropped after it went through the log, then it straightened my arms out and almost strained my back! It's so much heavier than other saws.
Scott

 

[geofore]

Re: 5-20

Originally posted by Al Smith
Well Lewis,that old gear drive has enough low end guts,to pull you right over a log .Use the bucking spike.

Watch out, the low end torque may be enough snap the chain when you bind it in a cut. You only need to get slapped once to realize the chain catcher needs to be in good shape.

 

[Lewis Brander]

To geofore:

Hi geofore, I've seen the term chaincatcher used by several on this site. I would think it's used on some high performance job where the chain speed is exstremdly high or fast, to help catch the chain (if it broke) from coming back at you. Is this something that you make and install on the saw or can buy? Can't say as I've seen a picture of a chain catcher. I would say that if the chain broke it would be wound up around the area of the sprocket and engine area on this inboard mounted bar, depending on how and where the chain broke as it traveled around the bar. I sure wouldn't want to near the far end of the bar away from you if a chain broke. like on some of those old 2 man saws with a stinger handle. Read threads ( that were posted) that would make you wonder how anyone could survive a chain breaking, especially if you were proping up the center of a long bar. I've check this chain over as close as I can. I've sharpened it and checked the rivets and side plates, drive links, etc. The chain looks good, but the cutters are worn down about 2/3'rds of the way. Will eventually get 52 DL of 1/2" pitch, .O63 gauge chain for it. Can you post at pic of a chain catcher. Thanks. Lewis.

 

[Mike mandry]

Hey Lewis, glad to hear you got your new project up & running.

I ended up giving that old zip tp my neighbors 15 yo son.

He gave me about 2 cords of firewood, so I figured I'd give his kid a toy to tinker with.

he got it running last night. It needs a carb kit & the clutch is stuck (engaged) but looks like it will be OK

not a bad deal for the $3 I paid for it.

Hopefully he will learn something from it.

I remember my first lawn boy mower I pulled from the trash at about the same age.

I spent hours tinkering with that old thing.

Mike

 

[Mange]

I think it woul be kind of rare to see a saw that is made befor 1965 with chain protection.

Mange

 

[Lewis Brander]

Chain Protection:

I've never seen a saw with any type of chain catcher or chain protection on it. Haven't bothered to keep up on the new saws to see if they offer such protection. I would assume that if you had a race saw, that it would be mandatory to have some sort of chain catcher in place to protect the operator and any bystanders from a flying broken chain. I wouldn't know, never got interested in the racing saw thing and don't intend to. I modified my Poulan 3400 a bit (muffler mod) to see how much it would improve performance. Was surprized at how much better it ran and breathed. Removed the screen and opened up the outer shell, still could drill out the inside baffle, but holding back on that for now. I was wondering if some of the newer saws had a side cover design that had some sort of chain catcher built in. Just curious since the subject came up. Take care. Lewis.

 

[geofore]

catch

I agree with Mange, most of the older saws didn't have them. The trick was to drill a hole in the lowest tooth of the dawg and bolt a piece of aluminium angle on to catch the chain. It would work most of the time to catch the chain short before it came back and tore up the side cover, your leg or forearm. Can't do that if you're going to keep the saw stock. Newer chain must be better because I haven't snapped one in years.

 

[Mange]

Here is how it looks on Husqvarna 240sg.

 

[Mange]

Here it is on a Jonsered.

 

[Lewis Brander]

To geofore:

Hi geofore. Thanks for the reply. I kept thinking a chain catcher was someting like an attachment that bolted on below the side cover to catch the chain if it were to break. I usually take a good look at the chains on these old saws. I've found, on the Disston, where one of the side links were cracked and one side link had a hole that was the size of the rivet head. Don't understand why the chain never separated or come apart. I had some extra 9/16" pitch connector links and replaced them. But that ran into some problems, in that the connector links were not worn or stretched the same as the old ones and the chain would bind a bit going around the sprocket. I have to leave the chain slightly loose, when I engage the clutch, to run the chain for people to see. My Bolens chain and PM Rocket chain is stretched so bad that I don't run them much. The sprockets need also to be replaced. The 5-20 sprocket and chain is still good. The 600 D, C-5 and C-51 have new .404, .063 chain and sprockets. I'll have to get a new loop of 1/2", .063, 52 DL of chain for the 5-20 at some time, then hopefully not worry about it breaking as bad. Anyways tinkering on these old saws has been an experience. Some guess work, a little trial and eerror, but a learning experience. This site has a lot of info to offer either by menbers or through the search function and I appreciate the knowledge that's here. OK, talk later. Lewis.